Setting a school record during the New England Division III Championships hosted by Southern Maine Fri.-Sat., Feb. 15-16, Alexis Walker '16 (middle photo) placed second as she
had a long jump of 18-4 1/2, more than a foot over the previous Wesleyan mark of
17-4 set in 2002 by Austin Horne. Walker was a two-event
place-winner at New Englands as she also captured fifth in the 60m dash with a time of
:07.35.

Walker's performance in the long jump was good enough to qualify her for the NCAA Division III Championships at North Central College in Naperville, Ill. Fri.-Sat., March 8-9, as it turned out to be the 12th best leap in the country during the year. At NCAAs, Walker cleared 17-11 1/2, five inches shy of her record, but good enough to move her up to eighth place nationally and give her All-America honors in her first trip to Nationals.

Breaking her own Wesleyan record set earlier this season, Sierra Livious '14 (left side photo) placed fourth in the shot put at the New England Division III meet. Her throw of 42-10 1/4 eclipsed the mark of 42-2 she established back on Dec. 1. Most impressive about the effort was that Livious had competed in the pentathlon on the first day of the meet, taking sixth with a point total of 2898. She won the shot put among the pentathletes by more than three feet among the 14 entrants, but her throw was only 36-8 1/2. She bettered that by more than six feet on day two.

Wesleyan had three other place-takers during the competition to amass its 30 team points, good for 12th place among 26 scoring teams. Lia Monti '13 (right side photo) took sixth in the 400m race (:59.46); Julia Mark '13 was fourth in the 3k (10:21.04); and Kate Cullen '16 snagged seventh in the 800m event (2:21.12).

After the New England Div. III meet, Wesleyan participated in the New England Open Championships hosted by Boston U. Fri.-Sat., Feb. 22-23, which featured teams from all three NCAA divisions. Just three Cardinals took part as Monti had a outstanding 400m race, placing 16th with a Wesleyan-record time of :57.91. Walker competed in both the 60m and the long jump. She did not make the finals in the 60m with a time of :08.02. Her long jump of 17-1 1/4 gave her 15th place. Livious competed in the pentathlon but did not score in the event. As a team, Wesleyan did not score either.

The final regular-season activity for the team was the ECAC Division III meet at the Armory in New York City Fri.-Sat., March 1-2. There, Mark placed fourth in the 5k with a solid time of 17:49.22 while Monti had a :58.29 clocking in the 400m to place eighth. That provided Wesleyan with six team points, placing the Cardinals in a tie for 38th place among 50 scoring teams.

Wesleyan moved its act outdoors Sat., March 23 by competing at the Conn. College Invitational, which was added to the schedule when the Jerry Gravel Classic at Westfield St. had to be canceled due to poor track conditions. Wesleyan collected 77 points at Conn with entries in just 10 of the 18 events. Wesleyan has placewinners in nine of the 10 events, led by the first-place finishes of Geneva Jonathan '15 in the 200m and the 4x400m relay squad of Sydney Cogswell '16, Idara Foster '15, Melissa Luning '15 and Monti. Wesleyan also had second-place efforts from Luning in the 400m, Cogswell in the 800m and Ashley Swan '13 in the hammer.

Ahead for the team is another trip to New London as the Cardinals visit Coast Guard Sat., March 30 for its invitational.